Apart from standing as a major civic triumph for the city of Houston, the new park is heaven-sent for ABC, which has signed a $12 million contract with 18 teams in the big leagues to televise games each Saturday afternoon for two years.
Since, weatherwise, there is only one place in the majors positively reliable, the Houston park must, inevitably, come to be known as Stand-by Stadium. An ABC official disclosed that on those Saturdays on which weather is threatening the scheduled game, the network will look to Houston as its ace in the hole. That's provided, of course, that the Astros are home on that particular day.
For the service it is rendering its colleagues and ABC, Houston receives no more than one share of the television money, which will be divided equally among the 18 teams participating in the contract. But the club doesn't figure to be hard-pressed for cash if attendance at the unique stadium approaches what the Astros' management anticipates.
By a process known, presumably, as Astrovision, a team spokesman estimates that 1,500,000 customers will pass through the elegant portals of the domed park this year. This would be roughly 600,000 more than Houston had drawn in a single season and would double last year's attendance.
All the comforts of home can be found in the de luxe boxes on the top level of the stadium, which rent for as much as $90,000 (for a five-year lease). Box holders can watch the game (or any other program) on TV or can sit out in the open in seats provided in front of the box.
Reposing on 9 1/2 acres in a central part of Houston, Stand-by Stadium is, unmistakably, an architectural novelty. Its roof is 208 feet above the playing field, equivalent in height to an 18-story building. Every minute an average of 250,000 cubic feet of fresh air will be drawn into the stadium by an elaborate cooling system controlled by a computer. A weather station on the roof of the building will feed temperature reports to the computer every 30 minutes, and the mechanical brain will adjust the air flow inside.
Another engaging feature of Stand-by Stadium will be a $200,000 television gondola which operates by push button between the dome and the ground. Twenty-five feet in diameter, the 20-ton gondola will accommodate TV camera crews making overhead shots of the action. For baseball, however, they won't venture too low for fear of catching a Willie Mays fly on their collective snoot.
That echelon of Texas society wishing to detach itself from the masses is offered de luxe season boxes available on five-year contracts only. These stalls range in price for that period from $75,000 to $90.000 and should help stamp out poverty. Neiman-Marcus didn't do the furnishing, but each box is carpeted wall-to-wall and comes equipped with a TV set, ice-maker, bar, telephone and private bath.
The television will carry a closed-circuit picture of the game and pre-game activities, a touch of luxury which just happens to suggest another Texas story. This involves the Texan who is 20/200 in each eye. He steps into his car, removes his glasses and starts the engine. His star fled passenger inquires, "How can one with your eyes drive a car without glasses?" The Texan answers, "Prescription windshield."
-Melvin Durslag | TV Guide 1965-03-27 Northern California
